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It is said that history is written by winners. In the case of Malaysian history; it often looks like it is written by poor students of federation history; who are technically the losers or winners, depending who is looking at their glass of water.

So, is this glass half-full versus half-empty merely conjecture and not premised upon any set of facts and truths? Is it simply a difference in perspective or philosophy; or, can it also be conclusively determined that as per facts and truths in any specified geography can become correct history, too?

Being a student of both rationality and logic; with deductive and inductive knowledge as a basis for truth and knowledge verification, I cannot simply dismiss the earlier rhetorical debate as simply perspective. Therefore, although I was a poor history student, mainly because of how it was taught, I think we cannot be careless in rewriting historical truths.

My professor in Islam, Science and Philosophy at George Washington University (GWU) always said: “A veil reveals as much as it hides”. The critical question then is: What is it that is hidden in the two half theories? By only describing half a truth and then joining two half-truths, many people seek to get truths and reality. Not plausible.

Science can quite easily verify if a glass is half-full or otherwise. One simply needs to measure the volume of water and it can then be stated with absolute certainty, and without any doubt whether the perspective is right or wrong.

Lying through history

The greatest disservice done to me as a history student in the early secondary years was the view that to learn and study history, we simply learned the facts; without being alerted that there is a difference between fact and fiction depending upon who wrote that history book.

But, in everyday life and living of ordinariness, if history is being rewritten right before our very eyes; it is no longer about history than whose-story. Therefore I was shocked to read one newspaper carry an advertisement which said ‘Merdeka Day is Hari Kebangsaan Negara!’ Really, since when?

‘Kebangsaan’ is our concept of nationalism to the best of my understanding. ‘Bahasa Kebangsaan’ is our national language, i.e. Malay, or Bendera Kebangsaan is our national flag and our national anthem is Negara Ku. Is anything confusing about all this?

More importantly, it is the current PM who declared Malaysia Day a holiday for the first time in history; after 50 years or half a century. So, I would think Malaysia Day, especially after 1963, is now the new the birthday of the nation-state we call Malaysia.

What then does it mean when Putrajaya now declares Aug 31st as Hari Kebangsaan? Maybe I did not read it accurately, or read it wrongly. If so, can someone like the national unity and integration minister please help me clarify my confusion. I can accept if it is only the director-general (DG) of nationality unity; but I would hope their ethics are better that of the Election Commission and its alleged gerrymandering.

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